An employee of a cafe in Ballston is in the hospital after being burned with boiling water during an altercation with a co-worker.

According to police, the two employees at Mary’s Cafe (4301 Wilson Blvd) have an ongoing dispute and have been known to argue at work on nearly a daily basis. The situation escalated around 7:45 a.m. when 55-year-old James A. Muse allegedly threw a pot of boiling water on the co-worker. The victim then allegedly drew a knife, but other workers intervened and separated the two.

Police arrested Muse at the scene and it is expected that he will be charged with malicious wounding.

According to police, the victim has second degree burns on his face, back and chest. He may be able to be released from the hospital later today. Nobody else was injured in the incident.

The Arlington County Fire Department responded to the Wendy’s in Courthouse (2038 Wilson Boulevard) this afternoon for a potentially serious burn injury.

Initial reports suggest a technician who was working on one of the restaurant’s fryers somehow had scalding hot oil spilled on his or her abdominal and groin area. Medics on the scene told the dispatcher that the burn injury was “significant.”

The patient was transported via ambulance to the Medstar burn center in D.C., according to ACFD spokesman Capt. Gregg Karl. No other details about the incident, which happened around 2:30 p.m., were immediately available.

(Updated on 9/30) Citing “serious” violations of occupational safety laws, Virginia’s Department of Labor and Industry has slapped Massachusetts-based College Pro Painters with a $14,875 fine for a near-fatal electrical accident in Ashton Heights on June 16.

A painter in his mid-20’s nearly died after the ladder he was using touched 19,900 volt power lines at a home on North Highland Street. The employee was burned and knocked back nearly 9 feet by the electrical shock. He was without a pulse when paramedics arrived on the scene, but was resuscitated and eventually transported to the MedStar burn unit in DC.

At the time, College Pro Painters president Rodney Larmand told ARLnow.com that the company was “deeply concerned” and was “investigating the circumstances” that led to the accident.

According to a citation obtained by ARLnow.com under the Freedom of Information Act, state safety inspectors determined that the company “failed to ensure employees did not perform any work” that would cause ladders or other equipment “to be placed within 10 feet of any overhead high voltage line.”

The company also failed to work with the power company to make temporary safety arrangements before the work was performed, and “did not ensure first aid supplies were easily accessible,” according to state inspectors.

The company has the right to contest the citation, which was issued earlier this month. Larmand declined to comment on the fine, citing a scheduled meeting with state occupational safety officials on Wednesday.

He did, however, point out that College Pro Painters has a safety record that is “significantly better than industry standard.

“Our safety program is excellent and we plan to continue our current program with improvements and updates for 2011 that will take into consideration our learning from this unfortunate incident,” Larmand said.

A young man is in critical condition tonight after a ladder he was moving came into contact with power lines. It happened around 3:15 this afternoon on North Highland Street, near Route 50, in the Ashton Heights neighborhood.

The man, who’s in his mid-20s, was working as a contract employee for College Pro Painters, firefighters said.

According to Arlington County Fire Department spokesperson Jose Ortiz, the man was trying to position the ladder on a house he was working on, when it fell backwards onto 19,900 volt power lines. The man was severely burned and was knocked back nearly nine feet by the electrical shock.

The man was without a pulse when paramedics arrived but was resuscitated and brought to a nearby hospital, Ortiz said. He’s now being transferred to the MedStar burn unit in Northwest Washington. His injuries are described as life-threatening.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be investigating the accident. Authorities are keeping power on until OSHA investigators arrive on the scene.

A woman was flown via medevac helicopter to Washington Hospital Center’s burn center after a house fire Tuesday night.

The fire broke out around 8:00 at a house on the 1000 block of North Sycamore Street in Falls Church, near the East Falls Church Metro station. Although the fire was contained before it could spread to the rest of the home, firefighters say an older woman who lived there suffered “serious burns.”

An Arlington County fire investigation team was on scene late last night. As the acrid smell of smoke still hung in the air, investigators could be seen inspecting a wheelchair that had been removed from the house.

One person was taken to the Washington Hospital Center burn center after an apartment fire. The blaze broke out around 1:00 Saturday afternoon at a garden-style apartment complex on the 300 block of North Thomas Street.